Horse-releasing device for vehicles.



PATENTED JULY 14, 1908.

IE. MARZINKE} HORSERELEASING DEVICE FOR VBHIGLESL 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1'.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 2. 1907.

T N 6.. M mz n N. A m

No.893,342. I PATENTED JULY14, 1908.

I EMARZINKE.

' HORSE RELEASING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED DEU.2. 190 I 7 1 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

v. .02 h I I "9 v WITNESSES. VENTOk r I E7726"! Jl farzwke- 5W mwm ATTORNEYS ERNST MARZINKE, or CORONA, CALIFORNIA.

HORSE-RELEASING DEVICE FDR VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 1908.

i 9 Application filed December 2, 1907. Serial No. 404,735.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNST MARZINKE, residing at Corona, in the county of Riverside and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Horse-Releasing Device for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention, which relates to a means for quickly releasing or detaching run-away horses from vehicles, has for its object to provide a means for the purposes stated, of a simple and economical character, that can be readily attached to any of the usual types of whifiietree cross bars without requlring any change in their arrangement or the connection of the whiflietree therewith, in which, under the usual or normal position, the whiflietree is free to move without danger of disarranging the adjustments or set of the releasing means, and whereby the latter can be instantly actuated by the occupant of the vehicle for releasing the traces from the whiflletree for freeing the horse.

With the above and other objects in View, my invention consists in the special construction and arrangement of arts, hereinafter described in detail, speci cally pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a perspective view that illustrates my inventlon as applied to a art of the vehicle running gear, the severa parts being in their normal or set position. Fig. 2.,is a perspective view of one end of the whiffletree, one of the trace holders and the releasing device, the parts'being in their normal or trace securing position. Fig. 3, is a. similar view that shows the devices adjusted to their releasing position, and the trace holding bolt drawn back. Fig. 4, is a transverse section, taken substantially on the line 44 on Fig. 2. Fig. 5, is a similar view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fig 6, is a longitudinal section of one of the whiffletree ends and the trace connection devices mounted thereon. Fig. 7, is a section thereof on the line 77 of Fig. 4. Fig. 8, is a perspective view of the sliding trace holding bolt.

In the drawings, 11 designate the vehicle shafts, and 2 the cross bar that connects them near their rear ends and upon which the whiflletree 3 is mounted in the usual manner.

The whiffletree in my invention has its ends constructed to receive a special form of trace attaching devices that 006 erate with the releasing devices pro er, w ich are located centrally of the whi etree and are adapted for being moved to a trace releasing position by the vehicle occupant, whereby to instantly detach both traces, as will be presently set out in detail.

Each end of the whiffletree has a long bore 30, which, near its inner end is bisected by an elongated transverse slot 31 and each of the said bores includes aportion of reduced diameter, whereby a shoulder 32 is provided that forms a stop for the washer 40 mounted on the .trace bolt 4 that is slidably mounted within the bore 30 as clearly shown in Fig. 4, by reference to which it will also be noticed that the bolt 4 has a solid shoulder 41. that forms a bearing for a stout coil spring 5, the other end of which bears against the washer 40 that in turn bears against the sto shoulder 32, the said spring, by reason of t e manner in which it is mounted serving to force the bolt to its outer or normal position as shown.

The outer end of the bolt 4 extends through the long ferrule 6 that is shrunk or otherwise made fast on the end of the whiflietree, the outer end of which has a trace loop or guard 60, provided with a. socket 61 to receive the outer end of the bolt 4 when it is at its outer or trace securing position as shown in Fig. 6.

At diametrically o posite sides, the ferrule 60 has elongate slots 62 that register with the transverse elongated slot 31 in the whifiletree and throu h the said slots pass a headed bolt 7 that aso passes through the sliding bolt 4 and is secured by a nut 8 as best shown in Fig. 6.

(Jo-acting with the bolt 7 is a dust guard or plate 9 throu h which the bolt 7 passes and which moves ongitudinally of the ferrule as the bolt is shifted, which operation of the bolt may be done by ushing the end of the bolt inward when 1100 ring up the traces and which, in an emergency, can be shifted by the releasing device, which I shall now describe.

Each of the whififletree ends on its under side has a longitudinal recess 33 in which slidablyfit the flexible members 90 that are preferably formed of a single strand of wire, whose ends terminate in a loop for fitting over the lower end of the bolt 7 and which are passed through a pair of guide eyes 10,-10 disposed at opposite sides of the whiflletree pivot'or turn olt 11, that part of the wire between the eyes 10 forming the loop 90.

The devices for simultaneously releasing the traces, which are best shown in Figs. 2 and 5, comprise a yoke shaped platea that is fastened by screw bolts on the under side of the crossbar 2 midway thereof, and which has a rearwardly extended bifurcated portion a, between the members a a of which is proj ected a stout leaf spring (1 that is made-fast to the plate a by a screw 0 as best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, by reference to which it will also be noticed that the portion a has apertured ears 0. to receive the pivot bolt 01, upon which is fulcrumed the tripper or releasing member E.

The member E consists of an elongated body having an apertured ear 6 at the lower end for fitting within the bifurcated portion of the plate a so as to swing upon the bolt at, its lower inner edge e forming a stop shoulder for engaging the plate a to limit the upward swing of the member E, which is automatically swung and held to its vertical position by the leaf spring at that engages the seat 6 at the lower edge of the said member E, which latter has an inner bearing surface 0 on its outer edge that the spring d impinges when the member is swung downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5, the spring holding it to its lowered position, the stud e that engages the stop shoulder a on the member a holding the said member E from swinging too far downwardly and breaking the spring (1 when the device is pulled down by the strap f that connects with the ring 9 mounted on the upper rear edge of the member E and which, in practice, passes'up through the bottom of the vehicle within convenient reach of the occupant.

The member E has a slot 6 that extends diagonally downward and forwardly, and it terminates in an enlarged aperture 6 the said aperture e and the slot 6 being relatively so disposed that the loop 9O" of the detaching wire can be readily slipped down into the aperture 6 From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, the complete operation, manner of its use and the advantages of my invention, it is believed, will be readily apparent.

By reason of the construction and combination of parts, shown and described, should the horse run away or the occupant of the vehicle lose control of the horse, the animal can be instantly disengaged from the shafts by simply pulling on the strap, which will snap the member E backward to the position shown in Fig. 5, and thereby pull on the loop 91 sufficiently to draw the wire ends inwardl T in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 1. and thereby simultaneously pull the trace bolts inwardly from engagement with the traces.

To set the trace holders in position for beposition; of means for drawing the holders simultaneously inwardly for releasing the traces, said means comprising a crank-like member pivotally mounted in the shaft frame, having a slot and a seat, a flexible connection that joins at the opposite ends with the opposite trace holders, said means, mid.- way its ends, passing through the crank like member and engaging the seat therein, and means for lifting the said member operable from the vehicle, whereby to draw on the flexible connection and pull the trace holders inwardly to release the traces.

2. In a horse releasing means of the character described, in combination with the shaft frame, the whifl'letree, pivotally mounted thereon and the trace holding bolts in the ends of the said whiflletree, automatically shifted to trace holding position; of a means for simultaneously pulling the bolts inward to release the traces, operable from the vehicle body, the said means comprising a llexible member secured at the opposite ends to the opposite bolts, guides about midway the tree through which the said flexible member passes, a plate mounted on the shaft frame, projected rearwardly thereof and disposed midway thereof, said member having another plate pivotally mounted at its upper rear edge, means on the plate for holding the swinging plate to its shifted. positions coacting means 011 the two plates for limiting the downward swing of the pivoted plate, and a device for holding the said plate to its upper and lowermost positions, operable from the vehicle carriage, as set forth.

3. The combination with the cross bar 2, the plate a bolted thereon and projected rearwardly thereof midway the ends of the bar 2, said bar having its extension slotted, the member E pivotally connected at its upper rear end with plate a, said member having a forwardly extended diagonal slot and an elongated aperture, the lower end of the member E having upper bearing faces, a spring mounted in the late a for engaging the member E to hold it to its different )ositions, the flexible member that seats midway its length in the enlarged aperture in the ed with the opposite ends of the flexible memmember E, the whiffletree mounted on the ber all being arranged substantially as shown bar 2, trace bolts slidably mounted in the and for the purposes described.

outer ends of the said Whiflletree, said ends ERNST MARZINKE. 5 having trace guard members, said bolts being Witnesses:

spring moved to the outer or trace holding FRED S. ALISEN,

position, and having their inner ends connect- E. P. KIDDER. 

